"How dare you?" Piper's knuckles whitened around her phone. Her whole body trembled with rage. A month ago, he'd been glued to her side, desperate for any scrap of attention. Now he was acting like someone with a backbone. "Great. Fantastic." Piper let out a cold, bitter laugh. "Look at you—get a little money, and suddenly you think you're somebody? I never needed your pathetic favors. I only took your gifts so you wouldn't embarrass yourself in public. I was doing you a kindness. "And you turn that into an excuse to crawl all over my boundaries. Fine. You want to test this? Let's see who actually needs whom. And do yourself a favor—stop orbiting me before I really lose my patience!" She tossed her phone onto the bed. "Aiden, stay tough all the way. Don't crawl back halfway with an apology." Beep-beep. Her phone buzzed again almost instantly.New messages—several, judging by how fast the notifications hit. Whoever was texting wasn't taking their time. Piper raised a brow, her anger shifting into smug amusement. "Wow. Barely three minutes and he's already back? Predictable. I knew he wouldn't last. If he wants forgiveness, he can wait outside my door for three days and three nights." Feeling satisfied, she grabbed the phone, fully prepared to enjoy his apology. 'Hahaha! Piper, look! I just found this picture, and I'm dying!' 'Doesn't this look exactly like Aiden tiptoeing over to apologize whenever you get mad?' 'Now that you're the one reaching out, he's definitely gonna be thrilled. When he replies, send him this pic and see how he reacts.' 'It'll be hilarious!' 'I can't breathe, hahaha!' The messages weren't from Aiden. They were from Martin, dripping with gloating energy. He even sent a clown reaction GIF to go with them. Piper's smile stopped cold. Martin's target was Aiden, and this wasn't the first time. Whenever Aiden upset her—or whenever she got mad for no reason—he always apologized first. Martin found it hilarious every single time. Sending jokes now wasn't unusual. This time felt different. She hadn't received an apology. She'd been blocked. The clown GIF felt like it was aimed straight at her. Heat rushed through her as she stared at the clown on the screen. Something inside her insisted Martin sent it to mock her instead. 'Piper?' 'What's going on? You vanished. Something wrong with Aiden?' Her long silence made Martin uneasy enough to keep poking for answers. Piper took a deep breath and wrote back, trying to keep it casual. 'No problem at all. I messaged him, and he replied right away, all excited. He said he'll boost both of us.' 'He's already preparing.' Admitting she got blocked was out of the question.'Knew it, hahaha.' 'Of course it's you. You're irresistible. No wonder Aiden can't help himself. Piper wins again!' Martin slipped right into cheerleader mode. His compliments eased her irritation. She fired off another message. 'Except I turned him down.' 'Huh?' Martin replied, sending a confused face meme. Piper clenched her jaw. 'I thought it through. I can't stand him orbiting me like some lost puppy. He's useless. No ambition.' 'So how are we leveling up then?' Martin was utterly stunned. This isn't how I pictured it at all. Piper typed quickly. 'Simple. The guy at the top of the Leaderboard—Nighthale. He's from our Spawnpoint 9527. Now that's someone with ambition. I like him. He can power-level us.' Martin: 'Does he know you?' Piper: 'No.' Martin: 'Do you know him?'Piper: 'No. Why the interrogation? Don't you trust me?' Martin: 'Relax, that's not what I meant. I'm just asking. If you don't know each other, how's Nighthale supposed to carry us?'